Treatment with ibuprofen is associated with a significantly slower rate of decline in lung function in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis, according to a new study.
Researchers found that patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who took high doses of ibuprofen had a 29 percent reduction in loss of lung function compared to those who did not use the anti-inflammatory drug twice daily over a period of two to seven years.
“It is fairly evident that the lung damage that occurs in cystic fibrosis is due to inflammation, and that this lung damage is what shortens the lives of these patients,” said lead researcher Michael W. Konstan, M.D., Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, and a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. “Since ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug, we presume that it works by decreasing inflammation in the lung, thereby slowing damage.”
The study, which concluded that the benefits of ibuprofen therapy outweigh the small risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, appears in the first issue for December 2007 of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes mucus to be thick and sticky. The mucus clogs the lungs, which causes breathing problems and makes it easy for bacteria to grow. The persistence of bacterial infections leads to chronic inflammation, causing lung damage, which eventually proves fatal.
Dr. Konstan led a clinical trial 12 years ago that found ibuprofen reduced the loss of lung function in CF patients, but questions have remained about the safety of regular high-dose ibuprofen use, which in some cases can lead to gastrointestinal bleeding. This study showed that gastrointestinal bleeding was rare, with an annual incidence of 0.37 percent in those taking ibuprofen, compared with 0.14 percent in those not taking the drug.
“There is still some concern about the safety of ibuprofen,” Dr. Konstan noted. “Although we found only a small increase in gastrointestinal bleeding due to ibuprofen, we continue to search for even safer approaches to anti-inflammatory treatment for CF. In the meantime, we think that CF patients, especially children and adolescents with early lung disease, should be treated with ibuprofen.”